It holds the key to so many meals. Whether you are looking for fish, all white meat chicken tenders, tater tots (I have a 5lb bag in my freezer right now!), fruit, veggies, or meals from all different cuisines, The frozen food aisle is my go-to when I am looking for mealtime inspiration.

The inspiration for this recipe was Mother's Day brunch. I know that I am the Mom, but I also like to make sure that I am going to like what I am being served for breakfast. I could tell you some stories about the ummmm interesting things I have had put in front of me on Mother's day morning

You know those dishes that you smile through your teeth and say, "Oh it looks sooooo good" all while you are looking for the dog to pawn it off on?

Yup, you got the picture!

I also wanted to make sure that it was something that was easy to make. I don't want to bog anyone down with a recipe that takes a ton of specialty ingredients and takes a culinary degree to make.

Shoot, I wouldn't want to make a recipe like that!

So I set this up one afternoon when everyone was at work. Then covered it up with foil, and put it in the refrigerator.

Oh, I got questions about it.

What is in the baking dish?

Is that what's for dinner?

Can I look?

NO!! Hands off!

I slipped out of bed the next morning to get it into the oven while everyone was still snoozing. Then I jumped onto the computer to get a little work done while it baked.

Pretty soon I heard the pity pat of feet coming down the stairs, and was immediately hit with, "What's in the oven?".

Of course, I had to play with them a bit. So my response was, "food".

Mini me, remembering back to her childhood, gave me the "look".

Very funny Mom!

But, once this casserole was done, and out of the oven, all joking was forgiven. They just wanted a plateful

RIGHT NOW!

We all loved this so much, and I successfully dropped the hint that I wanted it for Mother's Day breakfast/brunch.

How did I do that?

Well, I waited for their mouths to be full and said, "So, who is making this on Mother's Day?".

Sneaky right?

Ya, that's me, Little Miss Subtle

Strawberries and Cream French Toast Casserole

By Bobbi Burleson

Decadent, and delicious, this Strawberries and Cream French Toast Casserole is the perfect dish for a family breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients

1 loaf day-old French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened and cut into small cubes

1 (12-ounce) bag of frozen strawberries, large berries cut in half

2 tablespoons flour

10 large eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Powdered sugar for dusting

Equipment Used

Instructions

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Toss the strawberries in the flour.

Spread half the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the cream cheese cubes and strawberries. Layer remaining bread cubes, cream cheese, and strawberries.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt until fully combined. Pour egg mixture over the bread.

Cover the baking dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Remove baking dish 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake the covered casserole for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes, or until the custard has set.